03a – S’saran Historical Addendum

The S’saran are from Skaras, a planet hundreds of lights years away from the Frontier, on the other side of what is thought to be Sathar space.  The S’saran war with the Sathar invaders ended with the destruction of their home-world generations ago. However, several million S’saran were able to escape the destruction in hundreds of massive sub-light generation ships.  The fleet numbered in the hundreds and they scattered throughout the galaxy.

Scattered all in different directions, some were destroyed by Sathar patrols, others by interstellar hazards.  Over one hundreds years ago, one small fleet of S’saran ships miraculously made it through Sathar space and crossed into Frontier space.  By this time, a second generation had populated the ships.  Currently there are three generations of the Saran – The Elders, the Gippers, and the Rampers.  

Elders

The Elders are the oldest of the S’saran, those that survived the war with the Sathar.  They were primarily young adults or children when their parents built and loaded up the Gen-ships.  They were entrusted with the history, traditions, and legends of the home-world.  They were given positions of honor and prestige at an early age.  They were responsible to breed the next generations of S’saran.

Elders are distinctive in that they show the physiology of a ground-liver (those originating from the gravity well of a planet) who adapted to space travel.  THey still have a stockier build however, it has thinned somewhat based on variable gravity of space travel.  Despite their age, they were able to maintain their more brilliant scale and fin colors.  However, they are noticeably aged and most are feeble.

The history learned in books is biased to the victors, the writers and the media that wrote them.  Elders know the true history and pass it on story upon story of greatness and legend that is the home-world , Skaras.  Most Elders are now some member of the Church, revered in honor and respect.  The High Council of the Church is 90% Elders, but a new generation of Gipper cardinals are waiting to take over and bring a heavy hand down on the Rampers to real them into the fold that is the true faith of the S’saran

Gippers

The Gippers (Gen Shippers prounced “Jippers”) or G-Shippers or Generation G are those who spent their lives on the Generation ships.  They never knew their home-world and were born in space.  While honoring original culture and traditions, they developed their own ship cultures as well.  While they understood and honored the ways of the Church, the seeds of anti-church sentiments started to grow in this generation.  Some rebelled and were seen as outsiders.  The Templars were given broad latitude in their efforts to return the race back to its faith.

Gippers physiology is a direct result of being born in space.  They were more gaunt, taller and pale.  Without contact with natural sun and gravity, they are more sensitive to a planet-bound existence.  They developed fringe cultures on-ship as well, so they are different dialects of their mother tongue as well as varied slang.

Rampers

The Rampers are so named because they hit the disembarkation ramp the moment they could.   They are those that were born just before the Arrival to the Frontier or since .  They are mostly young S’Saran that have quickly adapted to gravity-well living and integrated into Frontier society very well.  They have left many of the S’Saran traditions behind to adopt their own and living among the diverse societies of the Frontier.

The Elders see the Rampers as a serious threat to what is left of S’saran society and culture, to the point of calling heresy.  However, much of the actions the Church could take would be considered illegal or restricted by Frontier law, so most of their actions have to be done covertly.  The Templars (mostly Gippers now) have been altered to be more of a covert force of assassins and spies.  Any organized threat against the Church is taken care of secretly by the new Templars of the Church and usually target some action by a Ramper.

The Arrival

Nearly a dozen S’saran generation starships eventually entered the Theseus system and were boarded by crews from Theseus system government vessels in 8 pf.   Only a few thousand S’saran were allowed into Frontier population at first.  Efforts were made to find space on other worlds on which they could settle.  Over time, millions more were allowed to populate throughout the Frontier in small communities.  At present, five million S’saran now live and work throughout the Frontier, nine S’saran starships remain in solar orbit at Theseus as a refuge and place to visit the Elders.